A whimsical, nature gothic collection brought to you in collaboration between artist Bear Mitchell and sensory friendly clothing company, Playing Possum Clothing Co.
ill. Bear the Spork
The Bloom Collection is a collaboration between artist Bear Mitchell, and small clothing company Playing Possum Clothing Co, to bring together a collection of products, combining the artistic and visual language of Bear and the sensory friendly products of PPCC.
ill. Bear the Spork
From the artist: “BLOOM” is, most simply, an exploration of the life found within death. An innocent, striking hare captivates the viewers as its body becomes a vessel for a lifeform unbeknownst to the host. Like much of my work, I find that exploring these themes visually with animal subjects speaks to greater thought patterns or habits within humans; the ever-persistent thought of what may persist after death?
This campaign is a collaboration between artist Bear Mitchell who designed and illustrated the “Bloom” artwork and Playing Possum Clothing Co who created the samples and will handle the production, shipping and fulfillment of all orders placed during this campaign.
Who is Bear the Spork?
Bear Mitchell is a multimedia illustrator hailing from southwest Florida with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Illustration from Ringling College of Art & Design. Bear resonates heavily with finding the fantasy within our real world nature, illustrating these subjects and their convergence with a focus on flora and fauna. His work has been featured in the 2024 and 2025 MadeBy Gallery Student Show, with the piece “BLOOM” taking home first place in 2024. Bear ultimately aims to transcribe his work onto the bodies of clientele by becoming a tattoo artist, as he hopes to provide the gift of self expression to others through his illustrative work, for those who find themselves strongly connected to the natural world such as himself.
If you are interested in seeing his extended portfolio, please visit www.BearMitchell.com
Who is Playing Possum Clothing Co.?
Our Mission: Playing Possum Clothing Co is an autism owned and run clothing company that focuses on designing vibrant, beautiful, sensory friendly clothing and accessories for all.
We design our products with sensory friendliness in mind. Our hoodies are lined with an ultra-soft blanket material, and our produced without any tags and our new blankets are created of the softest polyester, not Sherpa. We also include free fidgets as gifts in every order in an attempt to destigmatize stimming. These are just a few of the ways in which we strive for sensory friendliness.
Who are we?: Playing Possum Clothing Co is a small, five person company located in Centennial, Colorado and founded in 2022. Founded by an autistic artist, and with a staff that is almost entirely neurodivergent, we strive to create products that are both vibrantly, beautiful, well also remain remaining sensory friendly. All of our apparel is printed in house by our team, in addition to the handling and fulfillment of every order.
The five person team (+one of our employee’s boyfriend)
Our Founding: Playing Possum Clothing Co was founded in 2022
The founder of Playing Possum Clothing Co. has been drawing and creating art since she was a child but growing up, she struggled with sensory issues, including sensitivities to sounds, food, textures, noises, and especially clothing. To her, most clothing was always uncomfortable with rough lining and a poor fit. If she found a something that was both comfortable and fun, she wore it until it developed holes and faded.
Like many young women who are high masking, the full cause of her sensory issues was not clear until she was diagnosed as autistic at 16-years-old. With this diagnosis, she was able to continue her education in a way that accommodated her needs, and because of this she was able to pursue art in a more serious way. Upon graduating, she worked as a freelance commission artist working on character designs and portraits.
However, her passion to serve others began to culminate in an idea… what if she could create the kind of clothing she's always wanted to wear, while also finding the perfect combination of style and comfort? She found that there were little to no sensory friendly clothing brands, and the ones that did exist focused on children and specifically young boys. She knew couldn’t be the only one facing this trouble so she came up with an idea. That is how Playing Possum Clothing Company was born with our founder’s original vibrant artwork featured not just on clothing but many other products as well. Now, 4 years later, Playing Possum Clothing Co. continues its mission, helping thousands around the world from over 30+ countries with their sensory needs, whether they are on the spectrum, dealing with other sensory or medical situations or just looking for something that brings them comfort, security, and freedom.
For more information and to see Playing Possum Clothing Co.’s full line of products check out playingpossumcc.com
Fully Lined, Tag Free Neckline
Exterior Size Tag
Blanket Lined Pocket
Hoodie Details:
Playing Possum Clothing Co.’s hoodies are known for their intricate, vibrant printing and the sensory friendly, blanket lining that is plush and ultra-soft.
PPCC’s hoodies are fully lined, all the way from the hood to the pocket, with an ultra soft blanket material that stays soft washed after wash. Similar and texture to a squishsmallow, this polyester lining is incredibly soft yet breathable due to the cotton exterior of the hoodie. With dropped shoulders and a true to size boxy fit, these are the most comfortable hoodies on the market. Sizes range from S to XXXL.
These hoodies will be printed in-house by the Playing Possum Clothing Co. team at their location in Colorado.
Pin Details:
Stained Glass Effect
On the Backing Card
Back of Pin
Pin Details:
The Bloom design, reimagined on a three inch tall, stained glass enamel pin.
This beautiful enamel pin is perfect for collectors and display with its large size, translucent stained glass effect and printed details that make this piece a work of art. (Not recommended to wear, recommended to display on a board or in a dedicated pin bag)
The enamel pin is plated in gold colored metal and comes with two posts with black rubber pin backs.
Print Details:
The Bloom print will be produced in full color on semi gloss card stock and measuring at 8.5 inches tall and 6.5 inches wide.
Printing (Back)
Printing (Front)
Printing (Back)
Tag Free Neckline
Exterior Size Tag
Plush, Blanket Lined Interior
Crewneck Details:
Similar to their hoodies, Playing Possum Clothing Co.’s crewnecks are known for their intricate, vibrant printing and the sensory friendly, blanket lining that is plush and ultra-soft.
PPCC’s crewnecks are fully lined, with an ultra soft blanket material that stays soft washed after wash. Similar and texture to a squishsmallow or similar plushie, this polyester lining is incredibly soft yet breathable due to the cotton exterior of the crewneck. Sizes range from S to XXXL.
These crewnecks will be printed in-house by the Playing Possum Clothing Co. team at their location in Colorado.
Blanket Details
Front and Back
Blanket Details
Blanket Details:
Playing Possum Clothing Co.’s blankets are 6.5’ by 5’ ft, a perfect for 1-2 people. Whether that be cuddling on a couch, or being fully wrapped in it for sleeping, these blankets are as strikingly beautiful as they are comfy. They can immediately add life and color to a space with vibrant, detailed printing that makes it almost like a giant piece of artwork. Made of super soft polyester, they are machine washable, but are recommended to hang dry.
Zip-Up Hoodie Details:
(Note, these images are examples from our previous hoodies. Please use these as reference in combination with the pullover hoodie section for details on what these zip ups will be like upon production)
T-Shirt Details:
This is a mock up of what the T-shirt will look like, in the full production it will be printed on a vintage style, faded washed cotton T-shirt. The T-shirt will have no tags on the interior instead having a printed label in the collar with the size and material contents. The image will be printed with the same quality as the hoodies and the sweatshirts, and printed by the Playing Possum Clothing Co team.
Pledging: Backerkit works on a pledge based model, meaning that you can pledge for a certain amount and receive a certain item in return. In addition to the pledges, you can also add on individual items. As there is only one design in this collaboration, your pledge will determine the type of item you get, such as a hoodie or an enamel pin for example.
When pledging to support a bank or kit, you will not get charged right away. In the instance that a backer kit fails to meet its funding goals, no one will get charged and the project is canceled. If the project is successfully funded, all pledges will be charged to the card information Upon the completion of the crowd funding period.
Surveys: After pledging and after completing the payment for your pledge, you will receive a survey via your email, this survey is where you will select specific modifiers to your item such as size if you purchased a hoodie or sweatshirt. This is also where you will enter your shipping information pay the shipping cost. (Please note, the shipping cost is not included in the pledge price, but collected after the fact during the survey.)
What will you receive in your order: After the survey is complete completed, Playing Possum Clothing Co will have the final counts of all of the products ordered for production, and the manufacturing process will begin. Once all of the items are completed, PPCC begin the packing and fulfillment process. In your order you will receive:
The items which you pledged for
Business cards for both Bear Mitchell and Playing Possum Clothing Co
A pack of free stickers, including an illustration by Bear and an illustration by PPCC
A couple of small free fidget toys, which are included in all of PPCC’s orders
Stickers included in gift sticker pack
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and while you’re here consider supporting our project! Now onto the stretch goals!
When it comes to manufacturing items, such as textiles, apparel, and enamel pins, there is a minimum order quantity or an MOQ. This means that in order to get a design made, a company must produce a certain quantity as a minimum, this can be anywhere from 100 units to 1000 units. In order to fully fund this MOQ, additional products are locked behind monetary stretch goals. Once a goal is reached, new items are unlocked and can be ordered as the funds have been raised to get them produced! The more money that is raised for the project, the more items are produced!
As soon as each stretch goal is hit, the corresponding items will be available as both a pledge level and an add-on! So keep an eye out to see if something you are interested in gets unlocked!
This is an estimated timeline which is subject to change due to external factors in production and fulfillment. We will do our best to keep everything on schedule and share updates as they come along.
The Crowdfunding Campaign: May 21st - June 21st Surveys: June 21st - June 30th. Surveys will be sent out as quickly as possible after the end of the crowdfunding. And at this point, you will be able to select the size if pledged for an apparel item. Production: July - October production times can vary based off of the item, this estimate is based off of the longest manufacturing times. Printing and Fulfillment: October - December our apparel is printed in house by our small team in Colorado, and all of the pledges will be packed and fulfilled by this team as well. Pledges that do not include apparel items may very well be fulfilled before this date, but this is our estimate. This part of the timeline also includes quality checking. Delivery: delivery depends on the location of the customer, taking anywhere between a week to a month, depending on the country and shipping service. We exclusively use USPS for all of our orders, including international.
